Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/426

 420 LIEVEN LIFE BOAT LIEVM, Dorothea, princess of, a Russian di- plomatist, born in Riga about 1785, died in Paris, Jan. 27, 1857. Her father, Christoph von Benkendorff, originally belonging to the inferior gentry of Esthonia, pushed his fortunes by the aid of his wife, a German woman of low origin, who was a chambermaid and favor- ite of the empress of Paul I. Dorothea re- ceived a brilliant education, and at an early age married the prince Christoph Lieven, who was ambassador in 1811-'12 at the court of Prussia. Here the remarkable aptitude of the princess in dealing with public affairs and her eminent social qualities found full display, and she not only controlled the main springs of political action in Berlin, but succeeded in shaping the opinions of the court of St. Petersburg by her extensive official and private correspondence. In 1812 her husband was transferred to the court of St. James, where she became as con- spicuous as she had been in Berlin, and until 1834 held a leading position in the highest so- cial and political circles of England. In the latter year Prince Lieven was recalled and appointed governor of the cesarevitph (now Alexander II.), and for some time his wife discharged his functions as tutor as efficiently as she had acquitted herself of his diplomatic duties. In 1837, desiring a change in con- sequence of family afflictions, she removed to Paris, where she took up her residence in the hotel Talleyrand. After the death of her hus- band, which occurred in Rome, Jan. 10, 1839, she continued to reside in Paris, and her house became a favorite resort of the chief political, literary, artistic, and social celebrities of that metropolis. Politicians, diplomatists, and la- dies of all parties met at her receptions ; and the principal business of the Russian embassy was done in her boudoirs. She was on terms of personal friendship with almost every eminent statesman of her time, excepting Lord Pal- merston, who distrusted her influence, and of whom she became accordingly an unrelenting enemy. Guizot was her most devoted admirer. After the revolution of Feb. 24, 1848, she re- moved to London, but returned to Paris during the presidency of Louis Napoleon, and resumed her receptions in the hotel Talleyrand, which was regarded as the headquarters of the Or- leans party. After the proclamation of the empire her saloon became again of great politi- cal importance, the princess aiding the Rus- sian ambassador Count Kisseleff in keeping the court of St. Petersburg informed of the pro- gress of events. After the outbreak of the Crimean war, when Kisseleff and the principal Russian residents of Paris retired to Brussels, the princess went also; but in January, 1855, she sought and received, under the plea of ill health, permission to return to Paris, where she lived in retirement until after the resto- ration of peace in 1856, when her hotel was again thrown open to her friends. Early in January, 1857, her health began to fail; but she was in full possession of her mental pow- ers to the last moment. She was a Protestant. LIFE BOAT, a boat constructed specially for the preservation of life in cases of shipwreck. The first patent for a life boat was granted English Life Boat. FIG. 1. Sheer Plan. Fro. 2. Deck Plan : a, deliver-in? tubes ; 5, air cases ; c, well ; d, air cases ;, empty air cases under deck; /, fore air compartment; g, after air compartment; h, air cases; k, mast thwart; s, scuttles for air. in England in 1785 to Lionel Lukin, a coach builder of London. His boat was protected by bands of cork around the gunwales, with air cases in the bow and stern, and was bal- lasted by an iron keel; appliances which are found in the best life boats at the present day. Lukin's boat was subsequently improved by Admiral Graves and Henry Greathead. This was the first step ever made toward an organ^ ized plan for the preservation of life from shipwreck. Four years later George Palmer, an active member of the life-boat institution,